•Notícia

href="https://saladepremsa2.upc.edu/en"href="https://saladepremsa2.upc.edu/en"href="https://saladepremsa2.upc.edu/en"">ALBA synchrotron. X-rays, when they pass through the crystal and diffract, project images of spots which, after mathematic analysis, can solve the tridimensional structure of a molecule. When MACROM researchers solved the 3D structure, they identified the details of CD27’s structure, enabling the drug to recognise the regions of DNA covering the minor groove and preventing the development of the parasite. At the same time, these studies contribute to a rational design of new drugs, bearing in mind the molecular interactions caused by CD27.

Results of this research have been validated and deposited at the Protein Data Bank, a 3D database of proteins and nucleic acids, and published in the journal Acta Crystallographica D. The drug is patent-free and can be produced by any pharmaceutical company interested in its development.

Malaria is an infectious disease caused by a parasite of the Plasmodium genus that is transmitted by a mosquito bite. It deeply affects African countries, although it is also present in some areas of Latin America and Asia (with an estimated at-risk population of 3.4 billion, according to the World Health Organization). It is thought that malaria causes more than one million deaths every year and the parasite’s resistance to existing drugs is an obstacle in the treatment of the disease.

ALBA is the Spanish synchrotron light source. It is a complex of electron accelerators that produce synchrotron light, which allows the atomic structure of matter to be visualised and its properties to be studied. ALBA has been in operation since May 2012 and has seven experimental beamlines.

This scientific infrastructure produces 5,000 hours of beamtime per year and is available for academics and the industrial sector and serves more than 1,000 researchers every year.